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Copa-Data to showcase software for smarter grids at Cigre

Copa-Data, the international developer of the zenon software, is presenting its newest solutions for substation automation and substation HMI at the Cigre Session in Paris, from August 21-26, 2016.

JS automation and Copa-Data will jointly demonstrate the numerous possibilities of the software system for developing individual and ergonomic solutions within modern Smart Grids.

The Cigre Session 2016 is bringing experts from the energy industry together in Paris, with participants coming in from over 90 countries. Copa-Data has been offering its HMI/SCADA software in this environment for many years and continues to bring new innovative concepts for improved overview, safety and ergonomics in power plant and substation monitoring.

The in-house designed drivers guarantee adherence to international standards such as IEC 61850 Edition 2, IEC 61400-25, IEC 60870 and DNP3.

At booth 140, on the first exhibition level, Copa-Data and JS automation will introduce new highlights on the subject of Automated Engineering and the newest Command Sequencer zenon module for configuring complex command sequences even without PLC programming.

Command Sequencer

The Command Sequencer is a new zenon module that can be used to configure, test and execute command sequences. The command sequences for the automation of substations are configured in an editor with excellent usability.

The individual commands also known as steps, are simply lined up together graphically. Testing is possible in a simulated environment and the engineer can make changes directly. PLC programming is not necessary.

Complex command sequences can be configured with the Command Sequencer: parallel branches for simultaneous use of switching commands, alternative branches for transitions or changing two-stage into one-stage commands to avoid unwanted stops.

Jürgen Resch, industry manager energy at Copa-Data

Jürgen Resch, industry manager energy at Copa-Data, says: “A highlight is clearly the Teaching function of our Command Sequencer. Here, the system learns the command sequence while the user carries out the individual steps in simulation mode, in the usual single-line diagram.

“The command sequence editor records the actions and turns them into a sequence of commands. This can be tested and then used immediately.”

Integration in an existing configuration tool is carried out quickly by zenon, thanks to the extensive API (Application Programming Interface). As a result, project planning is simplified as zenon adjusts itself to the known configuration environment of the HMI. The wizards in the zenon Energy Edition for the IEC 61850-based SSD and SCD import also offer increased automated engineering.

The SCD import (System Configuration Description) reads the SCD file and creates communication configuration using the displayed data model of a substation therein. The report control blocks can be assigned to the various hosts per drag&drop.

The variables can be imported using the linked dataset information. As a result, a complete driver configuration with variable lists is created in no time, establishing direct communication with an SCD template to the devices.

The SSD Import Wizard (System Specification Description) in zenon automatically creates a precise, functioning single-line diagram from an SSD file. The generated graphic including the linked variables can be configured at anytime later in the zenon Editor.

HMI applications using zenon can listen in corresponding status messages via Goose. Using Goose supervision, zenon monitors time intervals between sent messages and checks if they are complete.

The HMI becomes the monitoring application for Goose communication. If necessary, zenon can go a step further. If, for example, a device that communicates via Goose were to malfunction, the zenon HMI would step in and manually transmit entered values to the remaining devices.

This Goose substitution means that tasks continue until the faulty device is replaced. Apart from the Goose protocol, zenon includes a further 300 communication protocols as standard.